Tight broadcast race on Sunday: Decent returns for ABC reality

12:45 a.m. EST, June 5, 2012|Rick Kissell, Variety

Cable was where most of the action was Sunday, but the battle among the Big Four went narrowly in demos to NBC, which aired an Adele concert special and the Miss USA Pageant. ABC reality shows ''Secret Millionaire'' and ''Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition'' did OK in their returns.

Ratings were unavailable early Monday for the NBA playoff game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat on ESPN and the ''MTV Movie Awards'' on MTV. Also, HBO figured to be a big presence in the night's 9 o'clock hour with the season finale of ''Game of Thrones.''

NBC followed ''Dateline'' (0.9/3 in 18-49, 4.6 million viewers overall) with the concert special ''Adele Live in London'' (1.7/5 in 18-49, 6.2 million viewers overall), which logged the best demo score in the timeslot for the net since mid-February. From 9 to 11 p.m., the ''Miss USA Pageant'' (1.8/5 in 18-49, 6.2 million viewers overall) led the broadcasters in 18-49 during each half-hour. It was down 18% year to year, but still delivered the event's second-best ratings in five years.

At ABC, the summer premieres of ''Secret Millionaire'' (1.5/5 in 18-49, 5.6 million viewers overall) and ''Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition'' (1.5/4 in 18-49, 4.6 million viewers overall) were both well down from their launches of last year but performed decently given the night's special competition. Kicking off the night, an ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' averaged a 1.2/4 in 18-49 and 4.8 million viewers overall.

CBS ran fourth among the broadcasters in adults 18-49 while winning the night in total viewers. ''60 Minutes'' was easily the net's top-rated program (1.4/5 in 18-49, 9.6 million viewers overall) and drew a larger overall audience than any series telecast on the night. Wrapping about an hour before the newsmag started in the East, CBS' coverage of golf's Memorial Tournament, won by Tiger Woods, averaged a 4.2 household rating/9 share in Nielsen's metered markets , the event's best ratings delivery in eight years. CBS earned weak scores following ''60 Minutes'' with encores of ''Dogs in the City'' (0.6/2 in 18-49, 4.5 million viewers overall), ''The Good Wife'' (0.6/1 in 18-49, million viewers overall) and ''CSI: Miami'' (0.8/2 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall).

Univision was competitive with the Big Four from 8 to 10:30 p.m. with its season premiere of talent show ''Pequenos Gigantes'' (Small Giants), which averaged a 1.4/4 in 18-49 and drew 3.9 million viewers overall.